Sunday, December 29, 2013

Riya looked down at the table and
rubbed her temples. "I'm not sure what you want to talk about. We've
already told you everything we know."

"Yes, but now I want to know
what you plan to do with what you know. Silay!"

Silay sat up straight in her chair,
having flashbacks to being called out by teachers at school. "Yes,
ma'am?"

"What do you plan to do?"

"I-- I don't know. They Seer
just sent me out to see if I can change anything."

The Healer waved this comment away
with her hand. "That's why you left. Now that you know what you know, what
do plan to do?"

Silay fell silent for a moment,
thinking. "Can you come back to me?"

Aibas nodded. "Riya?"

"The plague is magic. I'm a
magician. If I had my powers, maybe I could do something. But..." She
shrugged.

"I had hoped you all might be
a little more optimistic." Aibas turned to her former pupil.
"Jarlen, I'm sure you at least had some idea of what you would do when you
left." Before Jarlen could answer, a thought seemed to occur to her.
"Silay, out of curiosity, has Jarlen asked to look at your blood?"

"What?!" The question
startled Silay out of her thoughts.

Even Riya looked up in surprise.
"What would Jarlen want with blood? He's not a magician, and besides,
blood magic is dangerous. And usually bad."

"More than usually." The
Healer looked at Riya. "I've never known of a blood spell that ended well
for both parties involved."

"As Riya has pointed out, I am
not a magician." Jarlen's voice broke the silence that had followed the
brief exchange. "My interest in blood has nothing to do with magic. The
reason it's powerful in spells is because it gives life to the body. Which is
why it is also useful for alchemy. If their is something in Silay's blood that
makes her immune to the plague, then it might be possible to give whatever it
is to others and make them immune too."

"I still don't like it."

"It's not your choice,Riya."

"No, it's mine." Silay
interrupted what looked like it could be the start of a fight. "And at the
moment, we don't know if I'm immune to the plague, so it isn't really
important." She looked at Aibas. "You asked what I think we should
do? Well, here it is. We stop trying to find what is causing the plague, and
try to find who."

The Healer nodded. "That is
what I think too. And you shouldn't delay. I'll pack supplies for you, and you
can be on the road in an hour."

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Silay couldn't remember the last
time she had woken up and not been sore and tired. Sleeping outside, under the
stars, had always sounded so, well, glamorous in stories. But the truth of the
matter was that the ground was just not a comfortable place to sleep. No matter
where you set up your sleeping roll there would inevitably be a root poking you
in the back. Of course, thought Silay, the balm Healer Aibas had given her to
rub on her muscles had probably helped too.

Aibas, Jarlen, and Silay were in
the midst of quietly making breakfast when Riya finally woke up. There were
dark circles under her eyes, and her face was pale. Whatever Aibas had given
her to ease the pain of the collar had clearly worn off.

"Good morning!" If there
was one thing Silay had learned about her friend, it was that she didn't like
pity. "You look terrible!" She added cheerfully.

Riya stuck her tongue out at Silay.
"You're no morning flower yourself."

"Now, now, ladies, no need to
fight for my attention."

The notion was so astounding that
for a moment, all Silay and Riya could do was stare at Jarlen incredulously. He
laughed, and Riya punched him softly in the arm, a gesture of familiarity that
startled Silay. It occurred to her that her friends probably hadn't been
sleeping any better than she had during their journey.

"Is there any tea?"

The Healer nodded and poured hot
water over a mug she had already prepared before handing it to Riya.

Riya took a sip and grimaced.
"Willowbark?"

"It will help with the
headache."

"Yes, but what will help with
the taste?"

Aibas smiled, and passed her a pot
of honey. Riya sat down at the table where they had eaten the night before, and
Jarlen and Silay followed, Jarlen carrying a pot of porridge, and Silay bearing
a bowl of fruit.

There was very little conversation
as the four of them set about the important business of eating breakfast. Once
Aibas was satisfied that her guests were well-fed, she cleared away the food
and re-joined them at the table.

"Now," she looked around
at three travel-worn faces, "let's talk about this plague."

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Silay leaned back in her chair,
slowly sipping the strong tea the Healer had made for all of them. Once Healer
Aibas had seen that they were all exhausted and hurt, she had refused to let them tell her their story until she had seen to their injures and everyone had eaten
a simple, but good meal. The small group was seated around her table, and Silay
was happy to let Jarlen fill his old teacher in on what had been happening.

The three travelers nodded, and
Aibas shook her head sadly. "I just can't imagine. So many people..."
She broke off, unable to finish the thought in all their minds. So many people
sick. So many people who would die. "And you say it is magical." She
looked at Riya this time, who bobbed her head in acknowledgment. Aibas had tried
some general release spells to get the collar off her, but none had worked. She
had finally settled for giving Riya something to help lessen her headache. The
Healer sighed. "I think the rest of this discussion can wait until
morning. Sleep is the best healer, after all."

Jarlen nodded in agreement, but
before anyone stood to leave the table, Silay asked the question that had been
on her mind since Aibas had invited them into her home.

"Why was Jarlen your worst
student?"

Healer Aibas laughed. "Because
he had the audacity to apply to be a Healer's apprentice, and him with no
healing power!" She gave her former pupil a fond smile. "So I took
him on, of course. I was a bit rebellious in those days." She shook her
head in mock disappointment. "He never did become a Healer. He couldn't
manage even the simplest of spells."

Silay grinned at this. "I can
see where that might be a problem."

Jarlen rolled his eyes and stood up
from the table. "The two of you are worse than my sisters. So, if you are
done making fun of me..." The rest of sentence was swallowed in a yawn.
This set all three women to laughing, and a moment later, Jarlen's low chuckle
joined them.

Healer Aibas rose from the table.
"I've always said it is best to go to bed happy. Let me go get some
blankets and pillows and see if we can't make you all comfortable."

It was the closest to sleeping in
beds any of them had come to in weeks. Exhausted from the last few days, the
Healer's three guests were asleep in a matter of moments. But sleep came much
more slowly for Aibas herself, her head filled with worries about the magical
plague and who could be behind it.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

"I have the information you wanted." The scribe
paused, waiting for a response. When he didn't get one, he continued.
"About the girl? And the people traveling with her?"

"Ah, yes." The king moved the tax report aside.
"Tellme."

The scribe, who was, in fact, considerably more than a scribe,
shrugged his shoulders. "There isn't much to tell. My contact says they're
harmless. The Seers just think the girl is special because they couldn't see
her future. Magical anomalies like that are rare, but they happen. And the medicine man has no magic. He just deals with herbs and such."

"What about the magician?"

"No more of a threat than any other magician. Just to
sure, my contact had her collared."

"Good, good." The king nodded. "No point in
taking risks. You've done well. You can tell your contact that."

________________

The plot thickens... and Jarlen gets called the "medicine man". I bet he'd love that.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

They'd been watching the small
house for nearly half an hour. "I think it should be Silay." Riya's
voice was low, just above a whisper. "Are you all right with that?"

Silay nodded. She still felt that
this whole situation was her fault, so although she was nervous, she was
willing to do what she needed to get them out of it. The room she had been tied
up in had turned out to be in an abandoned building, well out of sight from any
roads or paths. After wandering around, she, Jarlen, and Riya had manged to
find a small spring. They'd drunk their fill, then followed it until it led
them to this house. Now they were debating whether or not it was safe to
approach it, and who would be the best person to do so.

"Well, here I go." Silay
looked at her companions. "Luck?"

Jarlen nodded. "It will be
fine."

"I'd go but..." Riya gave
a rueful shrug.

"I understand." Lots of
people were uneasy around magic, and the collar clearly marked Riya as a
magician, even if a currently useless one. And Jarlen, tall as he was, might
frighten whoever lived in the house.

Silay stepped out of the woods and
approached the house. She hesitated a moment, then knocked on the door. There
was clearly a fire burning inside, but no one answered. She knocked again,
louder.

"Go away!"

"But..."

"I said, go away!" It was
a woman's voice, gruff with age.

"Please. I-- We need help. We
were attacked on the road."

"And I open the door and
you'll attack me! Go before I call my dogs."

"Please!" Silay was
surprised by how desperate her voice sounded. There was no response. She
started to walk away, then thought of something. She turned back to the door.
"My name is Silay Gallegis. I'm traveling with Jarlen, the alchemist, and Riya. The Seer
of Dagrosa sent us. Maybe you've heard about us? We're trying to stop the
plague."

Again, there was no response. Silay
had just stepped off the front step when the voice spoke up, softer this time.

"Did you say Jarlen the alchemist?"

"Yes."

"Let me speak with him."

Silay waved Jarlen and Riya out of
the woods.

"She wants to speak with
you," she told Jarlen, when he reached her.

Jarlen shrugged and faced the door.
"Hello?"

"Jarlen?"

"Yes."

"What is the danger of mixing
of poppy oil with nutmeg?"

Jarlen blinked, taken aback. Then a
grin spread across his face. "Healer Aibas?"

The door opened, revealing an old
women with a small, though muscular, frame. "Well, if it isn't my worst
student. What have you gotten yourself into this time?"

End of Chapter Seven: The Strange Magician.

Check in Wednesday for the Chapter Epilogue.

___________________

What is the danger of combing poppy oil and nutmeg? I have no idea, but it's probably not good. Placeholder herbs until I can do research on herb-lore. Also, I could not for the life of me come up with a name for Healer Aibas...then I saw a bandaid on my desk. Can you see what I did?

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Silay woke the next morning cold
and stiff. Even worse, she was thirsty. More thirsty than she had ever been in her
life. Carefully, she stood and slowly flexed her muscles. Jarlen was awake,
sitting with his back against the wall. He nodded in greeting, dark circles
under his eyes suggesting he hadn't slept at all. Riya was still asleep, curled
up in a corner like a cat. Her face was pale.

Quietly, so she didn't wake Riya,
Silay went through the stretches she had been taught. Once her muscles were
warmed up, she did a few of Riya’s drills. Jarlen eventually stood up and
joined her. After they had gone through two rounds of drills, he stopped. “We
should wake her up.” He nodded towards the corner. “We need to find water, and
food.”

Silay followed his gaze. “Is she
all right?”

Jarlen shrugged. “The collar hurts
her. And though she’s tried to hide it, I think she got injured in the fight.”

“Fight?”

“We were attacked when we reached
the road. You didn't think we had wander off and abandoned you, did you?”

Silay shook her head. “I was
attacked too. I just didn't…” she trailed off. “Well, there wasn't really much
of a fight.”

Jarlen chuckled softly “You don’t
become a swordmaster overnight.”

“Or even over a few years.”

Startled, Silay and Jarlen turned to
face Riya.

“You’re awake!”

Riya gave Silay a small smile. “I
noticed.” Yawning, she slowly climbed to her feet, leaning against the wall for
support. “We need to find water.”

“We've already established that.”
Jarlen crossed the room and grasped Riya's hand, helping to pull her upright. “Let’s
go see what we can find.”